A Sandgate tradie’s hopes for a good night’s sleep were quickly banished when he checked his Powerball entry early this morning and discovered he was now $10 million richer.
The Brisbane resident in his 30s held one of the two division one winning entries in Powerball draw 1288 on Thursday 21 January 2021. Each division one winning entry scored a $10 million prize.
In addition to winning division one, the winner’s PowerHit entry also won a number of other prizes, including division two 19 times, bolstering his total win to $10,367,144.30.
Speaking to an official from The Lott this morning, the overwhelmed man revealed how he discovered he had become an overnight multi-millionaire.
“I went to bed early last night because I’d had a busy day, but I woke up at 2am and just started checking my emails,” he said.
“I saw a few emails there, including one about Powerball, so I went on The Lott app.
“I only play Powerball every now and then; when the prize gets big enough.
“At first I thought, ‘cool, I’ve won $10,000’, but then I realised I’d actually won a lot more – I’d won the top prize. Wow!
“I couldn’t sleep after that! So, I’ve been up since 2am and now I’m at work.
“I’m self-employed, so I’ve still got to work, and I’ll keep working even after this. I’ve always said if I won the lottery, I’d keep working. I’d get bored otherwise, but this just takes the worries away.”
While sleep eluded him after the early morning revelation, the Powerball winner admitted it did give him plenty of time to contemplate life as Queensland’s newest multi-millionaire.
“I will buy myself a house and buy my mum a house too,” he declared.
“I’m sure I’ll think of lots of other things, but I can’t think straight at the moment. It still feels like a dream.”
The winning numbers in Powerball draw 1288 on Thursday 21 January 2021 were 29, 35, 19, 15, 6, 22 and 27. The all-important Powerball number was 14.
Across Australia, there were two division one winning entries in Powerball draw 1288 – one each from Queensland and New South Wales.
The Lott’s division one winning tally has now reached 246 so far this financial year, including 55 won by Golden Casket customers.
In 2020, 14 Powerball division one winners across Australia pocketed more than $470.1 million in prize money.
In 2020, Powerball twice offered an $80 million jackpot – the biggest prize offered by any Australian lottery game during the year.
Of the 14 Powerball division one winning entries in 2020, six landed in Queensland, five in New South Wales and three in Victoria.